Shire came to notice in The Godfather (1972) and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in The Godfather: Part II (1974); she has appeared in other sequels as well. She is also well known for her role as Adrian, the devoted girlfriend of Sylvester Stallone in the series of films beginning with Rocky (1976), which garnered her another Oscar nomination, and going on to Rocky Balboa (2007). With her second husband, producer Jack Schwartzman, Shire cofounded a production company called Taliafilm II. She is the sister of director Francis Ford Coppola and aunt of actor Nicolas Cage.